The School of Communication at the University of Hyderabad has mourned the untimely demise of its alma mater and noted film critic, actor and Dalit intellectual Kathi Mahesh.

Mahesh (44), who was critically injured in a road mishap near Nellore on June 27, was shifted to the Apollo Hospitals in Chennai, where he breathed his last on Saturday.

“We mourn the loss of Kathi Mahesh, MA Communication, Class of 1998-2000. A noted film critic, public intellectual, developmental activist, writer (fiction and non-fiction), translator, actor and filmmaker, Mahesh gained immense popularity and following in the Telugu public sphere in a very short span of time,” said an official statement issued by the School of Communication on Tuesday.

The media school highlighted that its student (Mahesh) presented his ideas in various formats on myriad platforms and said his passion for cinema compelled him to bid farewell to a lucrative career in the development sector, where he worked for globally reputed institutions.

The media school recollected Mahesh’s work as script consultant for many movies, including making the screen adaptation of Bala Gangadhara Tilak’s ‘Ooru Chivari Illu’ (House at the End of the Village) as ‘Edari Varsham’, a short film, as well as producing multiple documentaries.

“His work as co-writer for the movie ‘Egise Tarajuvvalu’ won laurels at many film festivals. It was also the first Telugu movie script to be preserved at the Oscar Library’s permanent core collection,” the school noted.

The University of Hyderabad alumnus gained much popularity after contesting in the Telugu version of ‘Bigg Boss’. He also acted in many Telugu movies.

“Kathi Mahesh, who is arguably the first TV film critic in the Telugu society, will be remembered for many decades to come for his ideological positions and articulations in cultural and political spheres in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana,” the statement said.

Vasuki Belavadi, professor and head of the School of Communication, said that Mahesh was an outspoken person who stood his ground even though some people disliked his views.

“A very knowledgeable person, Mahesh was in touch with the department even after he finished his course. We used to see him at our alumni meets without fail. The accident was a shock for us,” said Belavadi.

The professors, students and officials at the media school had hoped that Mahesh would recover with treatment and bounce back to doing what he did best, but that was not the case unfortunately.

Belavadi said the best this he liked about Mahesh was his fearlessness and how he always strived to enjoy his Constitutional rights.

“Suppose you make a statement and somebody threatens you, most people get into a shell and withdraw themselves. That fellow (Mahesh) was not like that. He was totally fearless,” he noted.

Belavadi termed Mahesh’s death as a personal loss and noted that his honest reviews exposing plagiarism in the Telugu film industry got him into trouble.

Controversial film critic Kathi Mahesh death also becoming controversial now. AP police have already started enquiry into this issue, details as follows.

It is known news that, Kathi Mahesh met with accident two weeks ago and he passed away in Apollo hospital during the treatment. Even though Kathi Mahesh had severe injuries , his driver did not have any major injuries and is alive and healthy. Manda Krishna raised these doubts and suspected some conspiracy behind Mahesh death. He requested Andhra Pradesh Government to intervene in this and also demanded enquiry by sitting High Court judge. In addition to Manda Krishna, Kathi Mahesh father also raised concerns and told that hospital did not inform them first about death of Mahesh but directly released the news to media.

Andhra Pradesh government accepted the request made by Dalit leader Manda Krishna and ordered police enquiry into this issue. Andhra Pradesh police have started enquiry and questioned the driver about how the accident happened and why only Kathi Mahesh had severe injuries. Reportedly the driver explained about him wearing seatbelt but Mahesh not wearing the same.

We need to wait and see what turn will this issue take

Actor turned film critic Kathi Mahesh met with an accident in the outskirts of Nellore last month. He had injuries to his head and eyes. He was shifted to Chennai for better treatment and he passed away today. The government of Andhra Pradesh granted Rs 17 lakhs for his health treatment and his health condition turned stable as days passed. But he passed away after his health condition deteriorated. Rest in peace Kathi Mahesh.

Kathi Mahesh, controversial film critic, shifted his base to Vijayawada and gave interviews to media channels today. He again made some interesting comments.

He told that, after police expelled him from Hyderabad, he lost his livelihood. He told that- if his comments are not agreeable, anyone can debate with his opinions, but based on those comments he shouldn’t have been expelled from the city. He also argued that there is no unrest created in society because of his comments nor he provoked people. He added that, the people who are actually provoking violence in the name of Go-Rakshaks are actually spared by the police.

He told he is very interested in politics and he will definitely join electoral politics soon. We have to wait and see whether Kathi Mahesh will start making controversial comments again and if he does so how AP government will handle that.

It is known news that junior artist named Sunita made very strong allegations against Kathi Mahesh in a live debate in TV channel. While that particular channel ( TV9 ) avoided further discussion with her and scrolled only Kathi Mahesh version – that he is going to file defamation case against her. Other TV channels grabbed the opportunity and allowed her to explain her version. While Sunita episode is still continuing few more women are coming forward to express their bad experiences with Kathi Mahesh.

In a debate in MAHAA TV, a woman called and told that everybody in the industry knows Kathi Mahesh flirting with women. She said that kaththi doesn’t even spare married woman. She added, she herself had a very bad experience with Kathi Mahesh as he used to send offensive messages to her phone. She told she can share the information but she had some constraints as she is from a reputed family and a married woman. She questioned media (Murthy and Mahaa TV) how they are entertaining Kathi Mahesh in live debates on casting couch issue and giving him a position of passing judgments. She emphasized, he doesn’t deserve such position as he himself is indulging in this kind of filthy activities.

However the channel tried to explain help the woman who called – that women are complaining against Kathi Mahesh only in last couple of days and so even media not aware of all these incidents involving Kathi Mahesh and if these allegations have truth they don’t mind exposing Kathi Mahesh too. Anyway it is surprising to see the issue started by Sri Reddy he taking lot of twists and turns and finally hitting Kathi Mahesh who has been supporting Sri Reddy in this issue.

In a recent interview in social media, former MP Undavalli was asked to respond on Kathi Mahesh issue, for which he gave some interesting analogy. He reminded of the guy in late 90s (his name was Rama Krishna, though Undvalli did not mention his name) who used to make sensational comments like Priyanka Gandi married him, Jaya prada married him, Sri Devi married hime etc. He used to drag those celebrities so that he will get some publicity. Undavalli told, Kathi Mahesh also using the same strategy. By commenting on Pawan and his fans, Kathi Mahesh too became a celebrity. Also he added, ‘Initially, Kathi Mahesh’s critical comments used to be meaningful and thought provoking. But later, it has become too cliche and boring.’ But Undavalli appreciated Kathi Mahesh for his ability to justify whatever he says. At the same time, he supported Pawan Kalyan not responding to this issue. He told, there will be so many people there just to irritate Politicians. Leaders need to maintain restraint and respond only when it is absolutely required,’

He also responded on Janasena prospects. He said, ‘Jana Sena would definitely be a force in AP. I have no doubt about it but it is too early to predict to what extent Pawan would succeed,’.